


Salvation Lets Their Wings Unfold

by Elfbert



Category: Life on Mars (UK)
Genre: Crack, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-16
Updated: 2011-02-16
Packaged: 2017-10-15 17:21:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/163097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elfbert/pseuds/Elfbert
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dinner with the ‘in-laws’ has unforeseen consequences.<br/>A/N: Witch!Chris was very kindly leant to me by mikes_grrl. This is crack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Salvation Lets Their Wings Unfold

Chris bounded down the steps to the car like an excited puppy, turning once he reached the car, to check that Ray was following.

“Come on,” he called.

Ray followed at a much more sedate pace. He had never met the parent’s of any man he’d ever slept with – but he had another reason to be less-than-enthusiastic about meeting Chris’s family.

“So…” he started, once they were on the way. “They’re all…witches?”

Chris nodded. Then pulled a face. “But Dad don’t do much, y’know? He ain’t got the powers like Mum and Gran.”

“And you,” Ray pointed out.

“Yeah. ‘Cept Gran says I don’t practise enough, like, to be as good as them.”

Ray nodded, feeling less and less sure this was a good idea. But he’d managed to put it off for months and was running out of excuses. Besides, if they were like Chris, he reasoned, he might not have a problem at all.

“You’ll love ‘em,” Chris continued excitedly. “An’ they can’t wait to meet you.”

Ray gave a weak smile. He was sure that they would all be nice people, and he knew that they knew about his and Chris’s relationship and accepted it fully; he just hoped the evening’s gathering wouldn’t ruin everything.

  
Chris opened the front door and walked in, dragging Ray by the hand as soon as they were inside. “Mum, Dad, Gran, we’re ‘ere,” he called.

Ray allowed Chris to lead him to the kitchen and was greeted first by Chris’s Father.

“Mr Carling – pleased to meet you. I’m Derek.”

“Likewise,” Ray shook the man’s hand. “An’ it’s Ray.”

As Derek stood aside Ray saw Chris’s Mother turning to him. He tried to keep his head down, glancing nervously at Chris. But there was no way he could avoid her gaze, and the second their eye’s met Ray knew she could sense it. Her powers were far more finely honed than Chris’s.

She froze, hand halfway to reaching out to him. “Oh my,” she stuttered out.

Chris frowned, looking between Ray and his Mother, who was staring, open mouthed.

“What’s up, Mum?” he asked.

“Mam,” his Mother stuttered out.

Chris watched as his Gran turned away from the cooking she was attending to, then she too stared at Ray, her eyes slightly narrowed, as if assessing him.

“Well,” the older lady said. “Well I never.”

“What’s goin’ on?” Chris demanded, completely confused.

“Why didn’t you tell us, Christopher?” his Mother finally said, tearing her gaze away from Ray.

“Tell you what?” Chris asked, totally lost.

“It’s the eyes,” his Gran remarked. “Those eyes. The colour of summer sky. But there’s a darkness in you,” she took Ray’s hand and held it between her own, still looking deeply into his eyes. Finally she nodded. “A darkness, yes.”

Chris looked into Ray’s eyes too, trying to see what everyone else was seeing. He knew Ray had lovely eyes – bright blue, like his Gran had said – but he didn’t see anything else special about them.

“Ray?” he finally asked.

“I thought you’d know,” Ray finally said. “I thought…I could sense it in you, the magic. I thought you’d realise.”

“Realise what?” Chris said, losing his patience.

“He’s an Angel,” Chris’s Gran answered, matter-of-factly.

Chris looked from her to Ray, then back again. “An Angel?”

Ray nodded very slowly.

“But…Angel’s ain’t real,” Chris protested. “They’re in stories an’ the Bible and that.”

“Just like witches are, Christopher,” his Gran scolded. “Don’t mean we aren’t real, does it?”

“But how…what?” Chris looked at Ray again, noticing he looked uncomfortable.

“Are you our Christopher’s?” his Gran asked.

Ray shook his head. “No. Well…I mean, I’d do anythin’ for ‘im, but not officially.”

Chris’s Mother nodded her head, pulling herself together. “I’m sorry, so rude of me – I didn’t mean to stare, I’ve just…I’ve never met one of yours before.”

Ray shrugged. “’S okay.”

“And I would have thought Chris would have told us, too.” She gave Chris an admonishing look.

“I Di’n’t know!” Chris protested.

“I told you, that boy is blinded by this world,” his Gran chipped in. “He looks at everythin’, but he don’t see much.”

Ray reached for Chris’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

  
The subject of magic was steered well clear of for the duration of the meal, much to Chris’s annoyance. But it was obvious his family felt it wasn’t their right to pry, and Ray didn’t look exactly comfortable either, so Chris stored up the barrage of questions he had for his lover – the main one being why Ray had never mentioned anything to him about his apparent status.

  
As soon as the car door closed Chris turned in his seat, fixing Ray with a glare. “Why di’n’t you tell me?”

Ray refused to meet his gaze. “I thought…thought you’d sense it. When you didn’t…I’m not meant to tell anyone. That’s not how it works.”

“But you knew they’d see it – that’s why you didn’t want to come, ain’t it? Why you made all them excuses?”

Ray nodded. “I wasn’t certain though. Thought maybe, if you ‘adn’t seen it, they wouldn’t either. Thought…there’s all different types of magic, right? Thought maybe your sort didn’t see me as what I really am.”

Chris frowned. “So what makes you an Angel, anyway? I mean, why ain’t you got wings an’ a harp an’ a halo an’ all that?”

Ray shot Chris a withering look. “An’ where’s your pointy hat an’ broomstick?”

“We don’t…oh,” Chris gave a small smile. “So…can you do magic?”

Ray shook his head. “I’m jus’ here to protect someone.”

“Who?”

“’M not meant to say.”

“And that’s all you do,” Chris frowned. “Your whole life? What if the person don’t do anything they need protecting from?”

Ray didn’t look at him. “They will. It’s not down to chance. Things have happened, people know.”

“Oh.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “What if you’re not there, when it does?”

Ray smiled. “I will be.”

“You sound like you know what’ll happen already,” Chris commented.

“I’ve done it before,” Ray answered. “Lots of times.”

Chris was immediately interested again. “Really? How? Why?”

Ray sighed. “Your Gran were right, when she said there was a darkness. I’m here for atonement. I made a mistake, a long time ago, an’ now I have to work to make up for it, see? So I’m stuck on Earth until I’ve completed my sentence.”

“You did something bad?” Chris asked, eyes wide. “I didn’t think Angels could do bad stuff. They don’t in the stories.”

“I weren’t an Angel when I did it. I were a boy. And when I died, this was what happened. I’m makin’ up for it.”

Chris nodded slowly, but he didn’t push any further, sensing that Ray really didn’t want to talk about it.

Ray glanced across at Chris and felt bad that he’d kept such a secret from his lover for the months they’d been together. “Tell you what,” he said. “Once we’re indoors, I’ll show you summat, right?”

Chris nodded eagerly.

  
As soon as they were inside Ray’s flat Chris turned on Ray. “What’re you goin’ to show me?”

Ray shrugged off his jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt.

Chris grinned. He’d hoped for something cool and Angel-related, but he could settle for sex, so he trailed his fingertips down Ray’s chest, reaching for a kiss.

Ray took Chris’s hands and intertwined their fingers, kissing Chris back, tasting him and revelling in the feel of Chris’s soft lips against his own.

  
Chris was just getting lost in the moment when a sound distracted him – a dry rustle that was close by. He opened his eyes and almost bit his own tongue in shock, pushing away form Ray.

“Jesus!”

Ray smiled. “You’re the first person t’see ‘em, an’ if you ever tell anyone, I’ll kill you, right?”

Chris nodded, dumbstruck, staring at the white wings, which now seemed to sprout from Ray’s shoulderblades. He reached out a hand, then hesitated.

“Can I…touch them?” he asked, his voice hushed in awe. The feathers were so white against Ray’s naturally tanned body, and the wings were huge, the tips almost reaching the floor and clearly very powerful.

“Course,” Ray answered.

He very gently reached out a finger and stroked it down the edge of some of the feathers.

Ray shivered at the gentle touch, causing all his feathers to ruffle up and making Chris jump.

“They’re…noisy,” Chris said, still in awe.

Ray nodded. “Takes a lot, to keep ‘em hid. ‘S tiring, but I can’t walk ‘round like this all day. I suppose that’s the only magic I got, to make ‘em sorta…disappear. I ‘ave thought of tellin’ you before, when I’ve wanted to stretch ‘em. But…anyway, it don’t matter, you know now.”

Chris gained a bit of confidence and stroked the flat of his palm down the wing nearest to him. It felt so strong, just like Ray’s shoulders always did, and now Chris knew why. He assumed it must take a lot of muscle power to use the wings.

“How big are they?” he asked.

Ray glanced around to check he wouldn’t knock anything over, then stretched out the wing closest to Chris, showing it to have a span of around five feet. “Never measured ‘em. An’ no one else ‘as ever had the chance,” he answered.

Chris looked at each of the feathers, perfectly spread. “They’re amazing.”

“You can fly, can’t you?” Ray asked.

Chris nodded, then pulled a face. “Me Gran says I float, but I reckon it’s flyin’. I just ain’t in a hurry.”

Ray grinned. “Then one day, we’ll go out together.”

Chris smiled widely. “That’d be great!”

He watched as Ray tucked the wing away again, shifting it until it was comfortable. Then he picked up a feather which had dropped off.

“I’ve found these before! When I were clearing up after…” he felt a blush touch his cheeks. “After some of the petals. I thought it were off a pigeon or summat.”

Ray cuffed him around the head. “I’ll give you fuckin’ pigeon,” he said indignantly.

“Do you ‘ave to…like…take care of ‘em? I mean…brush ‘em, or whatever?”

Ray shrugged, which made both of the wings spread out slightly. “Not really, jus’ make sure I get rid of any loose feathers an’ don’t get any oil on ‘em.”

Chris nodded, still wide-eyed.

He made Ray keep them visible for the rest of the evening – an opportunity Ray was glad to take – and frequently touched them, becoming more used to the dry smooth feel of the feathers and the warmth he could feel when he laid his hand upon them.

Ray took the opportunity to have a comfortable night’s sleep for once, too. He always slept with his wings out when Chris wasn’t around, but recently Chris had stayed over almost every night, and it had left Ray uncomfortably cramped, having no chance to stretch them out when he was sleeping.

Chris woke up halfway through the night to see Ray, his arms folded under his head, one wing draped off the side of the bed with most of the blankets and the other tucked between them. He sighed and gently pulled at the edge of it, smiling as Ray shifted in his sleep to cover him with the silky smooth feathers.

He dreamt of flying over the city, Ray by his side, the two of them like comic book heroes.


End file.
